Chapter 126

Episode 126. The Blue Roses (1)

****

Contrabass held a flare, and the darkness of the Seoul Underground Labyrinth was illuminated by an orange flame.

“Keep up. Stay alert.”

Silver flicked his fingers. A faint silver light swept across the walls, and bugs and rats quickly scurried away from the light.

“Disgusting. Which way are we going? Is the plan just to wander around underground?”

Silver’s voice was distorted, likely due to the gas mask. The distorted voice echoed through the tunnel, and the others remained silent.

Something rustled beneath their feet.

“What’s this white powder on the ground?”

“Salt.”

“Why salt…?”

“Concrete might melt if it touches groundwater. They probably spread it to prevent flooding. Just a guess, though.”

Silver glanced around. After a long pause, Contrabass finally spoke.

“Our objective. We’re looking for the government’s bunker. We’re not planning to sleep in some random tunnel.”

The six humanoid supernatural phenomena glanced around. It was indeed a bizarre place. Even if there was nothing strange underground.

The underground space itself was terrifying.

“What kind of tunnel is this, and why was it built? Or rather, by whom?”

“Don’t know. Could’ve been made by the Foundation or the government. The salt on the ground might have some ritualistic meaning.”

Spade tasted the salt on the ground.

“Well, if it were a tunnel made for everyday use, there’d be wires or something laid down. This tunnel is probably some kind of sealing circle or magic circle. That’s why the salt is there.”

****

The Director’s Office desk was clean.

I’m not usually the type to keep my desk clean. I tend to clutter it with papers and whatnot, but the Director’s Office desk felt too unsettling to do that. No particular reason, though.

Even now, the Director’s Office desk only had my fountain pen, a laptop, and a phone connected to Headquarters.

Tap, tap.

After the sound of footsteps, someone was waiting outside the Director’s Office door. They seemed too scared to knock and were just standing there.

“Come in.”

Paper Yang entered the Director’s Office.

They don’t like the Director’s Office.

I don’t know why they feel that way, but I can understand the sentiment. Honestly, I don’t like that phone connected to Headquarters either.

“By the way, Paper Yang, if anyone packs an omelet into the Director’s Office fridge one more time, I’m seriously going to kill them.”

Paper Yang noted that in their notebook. O – M – E – L – E – T.

“I’ll pass that along.”

“Is this about the molecular biology experiment? Let them know we’ll analyze the molecular structure of the angel feathers later. We’re too busy with radiation crystallization right now. Just use the electron microscope.”

“That’s not it.”

Paper Yang cleared their throat.

“Director. I think you need to see this yourself. It seems like a serious situation…”

I hear that several times a day.

I should count how many times I hear that in a day. Feels like I hear it at least ten times a day. How is it always a serious situation?

As I nodded, Paper Yang rushed over with something in hand.

“Look at this. On the day of the ‘Two Lures’ operation, six suspicious individuals infiltrated Lotte Tower in Jamsil and then disappeared.”

“So what happened?”

“The Support Department is tracking them, but they’ve gone underground, making it difficult to follow. Once they disappear into the city’s labyrinth, there’s no way to find them.”

The labyrinth is truly a terrifying place.

The labyrinth exists beneath most major cities, a chaotic mix of subways, sewers, national bunkers, and natural caves.

It’s hard to call it a supernatural phenomenon, but it’s true that many supernatural phenomena exist within the labyrinth.

“Good job. Tell them to keep doing what they’re doing. It was an operation to lure hostile groups, and we succeeded in luring them.”

Why did they come to Seoul?

“Any reports on what they’re doing?”

Paper Yang shook their head.

“I read the report, but nothing is known yet. They don’t know why they came to Seoul or how they got here.”

Paper Yang might not have received the information. There might have been something too complicated to convey or explain. I guess I’ll have to check it out myself.

****

Reluctantly, I went to the meeting room, where two people were already waiting: Dr. Kwak, Head of the Remote Viewing Department, and Lee Hwa, Head of the Support Department.

“Good day, Director.”

I looked at the two of them.

“Let’s get straight to it. I’m busy.”

The Support Department Head began.

“Yes. To support the ‘Two Lures’ operation, we deployed a tighter surveillance network than usual during the operation.”

“Okay.”

“There are countless supernatural groups or cults worshipping supernatural phenomena in the shadows. We can’t do much about them. There’s no reason to stir up trouble by poking the hornet’s nest.”

Cults, violent organizations. There are dozens of self-proclaimed messiahs in Korea. It’s not hard to deal with the many groups that aren’t even considered hostile.

We could just send one or two agents to wipe them out or dismantle them. It’s just that the time and money spent on that would be a waste.

“Okay.”

“We don’t track every little thing they do in the shadows, but it is unusual for humanoid supernatural phenomena to enter tourist spots. They were detected by our network, so we analyzed them closely.”

“So. Six people infiltrated Lotte Tower? Any signs of terrorism or anything?”

“No signs of that. And they didn’t infiltrate; they paid the entrance fee.”

“Ah. Anything else?”

“They just came and left. We don’t know why, and most of the CCTV and recording devices on-site were degraded by information degradation, so there’s not much left.”

I checked my phone. Nanami just arrived at the Director’s Office. Why is she always late when she lives inside the Foundation?

“What next?”

“We tried to track their movements as much as possible, but they disappeared at a subway station. They probably went underground. Into Seoul’s labyrinth.”

That’s all good.

“What do you think their identities are? Why did you suspect they were humanoid supernatural phenomena in the first place?”

“We suspected them because of the magical information degradation. We need to investigate their identities further, but… we have no idea.”

You have no idea at all.

“Sorry to say this, but… you don’t plan to chase them into the labyrinth, you don’t know their identities, and you don’t know their purpose. If that’s the case, why bring this to me?”

The Support Department Head turned to Dr. Kwak.

“Dr. Kwak. Go ahead.”

Dr. Kwak cleared his throat.

“Ah, yes. Anyway, we’ve got a lead on the enemy, so the Remote Viewing Department has been putting all our effort into tracking these individuals. They’re not part of any cult or violent group active within Seoul.”

“Okay.”

This is getting complicated again. What do they want, and why did they show up in Seoul?

****

[The Six Supernatural Humans of Sauron Tower]

[Author: Dr. Kwak]

[First Question: Will tracking the six humanoid supernatural phenomena that appeared at Lotte Tower help the Foundation achieve its goals?]

[Card Drawn: The Tower (Reversed). Keywords: Required Destruction. The astrologer’s interpretation was that tracking and destroying these humanoid supernatural phenomena would be beneficial for the Foundation’s goals.]

[Coin Toss Result: 19:14. The coin leans towards the proposition being true.]

[Second Question: Are the aforementioned humanoid supernatural phenomena hostile to the Foundation?]

[Card Drawn: The World (Reversed). Keywords: Incompleteness, Uncertainty. The astrologer concluded that it’s not certain they are hostile to the Foundation.]

[Coin Toss Result: 17:16. The coin leans towards the proposition being true.]

[Third Question: Are the aforementioned humanoid supernatural phenomena created by the Foundation?]

[Card Drawn: The Fool (Reversed). Keywords: Recklessness and Foolishness. No explanation needed.]

[Coin Toss Result: 33:0. The astral plane clearly says yes.]

****

[The Six Supernatural Humans of Sauron Tower. Reply.]

[Author: Dr. Kim]

[This document is restricted by the Director’s order. Those without access permissions, please turn back now.]

[This document is protected by cognitive hazards. The Foundation is not responsible for any mental or physical damage caused by violating access restrictions.]

[Thank you for the report.]

[Three Major Arcana cards in reverse in a row. Not a good sign.]

[After requesting cooperation from the police, it was confirmed that the supernatural phenomena in question boarded a flight from Jeju Island to Incheon Airport.]

[They are believed to be the Blue Roses. Currently, seven Blue Rose series supernatural phenomena have been confirmed dead or secured by the Foundation.]

[The individuals caught in our surveillance are believed to be the seven missing Blue Rose entities.]

[Where is the seventh one, you ask?]